The Jets Beat The Patriots Thanks To A Controversial And Bizarre Penalty In Overtime

The Jets missed a long, 56-yard field goal in overtime that would
have given the Patriots very good field position. However, the
Patriots were penalized for illegal pushing on the kick, setting
up an easier field goal that the Jets did not miss.

On the original field goal attempt, Chris Jones (no. 94) of the
Patriots moved in behind a teammate and then pushed that teammate
forward in an effort to block the kick (cont. below) ...

However,
according to Bill Bradley of NFL.com, pushing a teammate is
only illegal if Jones was not on the line of scrimmage at the
start of the play. During this play, it appears that Jones is
indeed on the line of scrimmage when the play started, which
would make the push legal.

Unfortunately for the Patriots the first time the rule was used,
it appears that it was used incorrectly, and it came at a very
crucial moment, costing the Pats a 15-yard unsportsmanlike
penalty. Four plays later, Nick Folk made his kick from a much
more manageable 42 yards.

[UPDATE] After the game, NFL.com edited the story by Bill Bradley
mentioned above. Prior to the edit, the text read (emphasis ours)
"Team B players not on the line of scrimmage at the
snap cannot push teammates on the line of scrimmage into
the offensive formation."

After the game, the text was changed with the portion in bold
removed. It now reads "Team B players cannot push teammates on
the line of scrimmage into the offensive formation."

What is especially curious about this is that Bill Belichick
could be heard on the sideline yelling at the officials "he was
on the line!" That would suggest that Belichick also thought the
rule only applied to players not on the line of
scrimmage.